Burgess is all white on night
Brighouse Town 3 Hemsworth MW 2 Koolsport Northern Counties East Division One
A SECOND half rally saw Brighouse Town go top of the KoolSport Northern Counties East League as the Dual Seal Stadium became a winter wonderland on Tuesday night.
Poor Town chairman Chris Lister missed all the excitement as he was stuck in the snow in Todmorden but fortunately he was kept up to speed with things via his mobile phone.
Towards the end of the game and long after the final whistle had sounded the game was showered with not only snow but controversy as players, officials and supporters contested Town's second goal for offside.
In the tunnel officials Hemsworth officials told referee Craig Ainsworth that they felt that the game should either have been called off or abandoned as heavy snow fell constantly throughout the match.
The weather didn't relent and as the kind of snow they have being praying for at the Winter Olympics in Whistler came down, vice-chairman Ray McLaughlin and match day secretary Wally Hemingway were kept busy clearing the lines before, at half time and during the second half.
Delighted manager Mark Brier said afterwards: "I am rather pleased with that. It was frustrating in the first half as we had plenty of chances, but we couldn't capitalise on them.
"We said at half time that it was some of the best football we had played and we felt in control and dominated the second half.
"(Assistant manager) Darren Attwood said that this side doesn't know when it is beaten and showed tremendous character."
Town are a side that is definitely in form and working hard for each other. It was tough out there in those conditions but they dug deep and showed determination.
Hemsworth started with all guns blazing and Reece Richardson soon warmed up as he had to clear three attacks on target. This gave Town a wake up call and finally they took the game to the other end of the pitch and it became real end-to-end stuff.
Both sides did tremendously well to control the ball as they did the odd Besti Squat and Biellmann Spin in conditions which wouldn't have been out of place in Dancing on Ice.
As the first half went on Hemsworth pushed the Town defence in to overdrive and eventually it caved as a free kick from the edge of the box saw Wayne Harratt's effort go over the top of the wall, clip Richardson's finger tips and cross the line.
Brighouse woke up and took the game to the visitors again, Lee Burgess and Craig Smith testing the keeper but still went in to the break 1-0 down.
The spectators had only just got back to their places after a warming cup of coffee when Town got their equaliser, as 18-year-old Burgess was on target from the edge of the box.
Richardson again kept his side in the game as he made himself big and foiled two repetitive shots from Robert Crapper. However, Lee Dawson, who was inspirational for the visitors, split the defence wide open and beat the keeper for them to regain the lead.
With five minutes to go Brighouse were awarded a corner. Matthew Howgate sent the ball over to the far side of the net, Luke Sherman performed an acrobatic overhead kick and skipper Darrell Leach latched on to the ball to level the scores.
Heworth were still protesting when, a minute later, Burgess grabbed his second of the evening.
Town will try to make it eight ins on bounce in the the derby game with Emley on Saturday (3.00) when officials hope a special offer for Leeds and Huddersfield fans will boost the crowd. See Big Voice on page 19 for full details.
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Weather for Halifax
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -3 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 0 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South
